AJ Storr, left, and Sania Copeland, both transferred from Wisconsin to Kansas in April. Storr photo: Evan Halpop. Copeland photo: Wisconsin Athletics.
Former Wisconsin guard Sania Copeland is from the Kansas City area. Storr was projected to join the Fighting Illini.
By Peter Cameron, BADGER STRIPES
In 2021, when he was a junior in high school, AJ Storr, from Rockford, committed to play for the University of Illinois.
But after the assistant coach who had been his lead recruiter left for another job with another program, Storr decommitted and ended up at St. John’s in New York City for a solid freshman season, where he earned a spot on the All-Big East Freshman Team.
The 6’6” swing man transferred to Wisconsin for the 2023-2024 season, where he broke out, averaging 17 points per game. He was named Second Team All-Big Ten.
After his hot start for the Badgers, Storr’s people reportedly started shopping for his next team, and apparently had one in place with the Illini in the middle of the season.
After the season, at least one major college basketball recruiting website predicted the wildly-athletic swingman would end up in Champaign. Head Coach Brad Underwood makes no secret that he wants to accumulate long and athletic wing players on his roster. And Illinois has been shown to have deep NIL pockets, outbidding Wisconsin for Marcus Domask in the previous off-season.
Instead, Storr, one of the top transfers in the portal, committed to Kansas in April, no doubt for a large NIL deal.
But did you know he is transferring to the Jayhawks with another ex-Badger, fellow baller Sania Copeland?
The pair are reportedly dating, and Copeland is from the Kansas City area.
In her sophomore season last year, the 5’7” guard started 26 of 29 games for Wisconsin, and played about 30 minutes per game, good for second most on the team. She also scored about 7 points per game. She is a rising junior, like Storr.
Did the blue blood Kansas simply outbid Illinois for Storr’s talents? Or was he set on following Copeland home? Or were the offers similar, and Copeland was the tipping point? Did they come in a package, and each get some NIL dollars?
One report said Storr was seeking $1 million to play in the 2024-2025 season and initially turned down an offer of $750,000 to play for Kansas.
NIL deals remain private and secret (for now), so unless someone in the know speaks about it publicly, we’ll probably never find out.
Badger Stripes is an online sports news organization that provides in-depth coverage of Wisconsin athletics. You can follow us on Facebook.
